Silver The Hedgehog: Rise Of The Gaolers
by Grant Crose
Summary: Silver is a prisoner at The Marble, a top security prison for people with special abilities. Note: This is a work of mere fiction, any supernatural concept depicted here shall not be believed in or practiced in any way. Violence of any kind is not encouraged in any way.
1. Chapter 1

Silver The Hedgehog: Rise Of The Gaolers

Chapter 1: The New One

I was there, at the world's safest prison for people with dangerous abilities, where else could I be at that time? I stopped counting the days, as it was useless. I thanked I was not alone, four other freaks shared the big, empty white house with me, Tikal, Mighty, Ray and Abyss, the new one, as we called him, until one day, another 'new one' arrived, we noticed it when her sobs woke us up on a monotone morning. The orange furred fox was sitting on a corner of one of the many twisted hallways, she cried with uncertainty and fear, just as each one of us when we arrived there, I approached her and tried to calm her down as we had done with Abyss before.

"Hi." I said. "What's your name?" The best way to break the ice.

She kept sobbing, then looked at me, devastated, scared and lost. "Ph…" She let out a cry that prevented her from finishing her answer.

"Hey…" I knelt down in front of her, she had her arms wrapped around her knees, her hair was brown and not too long, also not too short, I tried to reassure her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Is okay."

Her sobs started to become less frequent, she raised her gaze and looked at me again. "I'm Philis." She said with a broken voice.

I smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Philis, I'm Silver, these behind me are Abyss, Tikal, Mighty and Ray." Abyss was particularly frightening, his serious stare didn't help at all, but his face was kind of okay for a newcomer, he reminded me of Tails a little bit, he was also a fox, only that older and with brown fur.

Philis looked at them briefly and then returned her gaze to me. "Where are we?" Her voice was still broken.

"The Marble." I was willing to respond all of her doubts, at least the ones I had the answer to. "Is not the best place in the world, but I'm sure is not the worst."

"W…where are my parents?" Philis was very young, at least twenty two, I could see it on her fright.

"I don't know." It was hard to tell her she was actually on a prison. "The best you can do now is to trust us, okay?"

Abyss sighed. "Tell her the truth, Silver, she has to know." He spoiled my intentions of keeping her calm at least for the morning.

Philis looked at him, scared of what that place could be. "I have to know what?"

"This is a prison, youngling." Abyss turned and started to walk away from us. "Get used to it, it will be your home until the last of your days."

"We don't know that, Abyss." Tikal argued and approached him.

Abyss growled. "Face it." He glanced at Philis one last time. "And move on." He finally left us alone.

I didn't want to lie, Abyss was right after all, the sooner she knew, the better. "See this uniform?" I pointed at my dark blue jumpsuit. "You have the same, just as them."

Philis looked at herself, she gasped at seeing her suit. "Oh, I didn't notice." She lifted her arm and felt the plastic texture of the suit's cloth.

"We are like a team, can't you see it?" I smirked. "We are a team, Philis."

Philis nodded almost carelessly. "I want to go home."

It was getting difficult to reassure her, but Tikal intervened and approached her, kneeling down and looking into her eyes. "I know is hard, all of us know that, we went through the same, but believe me, things will get better."

"How could they get better?" Philis sobbed. "I wan't to go with my family." She looked away, closing her eyes and crying more silently.

"So…what are your powers?" Ray asked, Tikal and I thought it wasn't smart to change the topic that abruptly, but it kind of worked.

Philis looked at him. "Powers?" She sniffed and lifted her hand, but nothing happened. "Uhm, I can make rock." She clenched and opened her fist rapidly and started to get frustrated.

"This place inhibits our abilities, none of us can use our powers here." Mighty said. "Don't worry."

"Oh." Philis expressed. "This place is getting worser."

"Breakfast!" Abyss' voice echoed on the hallway.

"Come on." I offered her my hand, she hesitated a little bit to take it but finally accepted my help to stand up, then we all headed to the kitchen.

It was a conformable place, the food packages arrived from who knows where and the dirty dishes returned clean the next day, there were two machines, one that received and cooked the food and another that received and sent the plates and glasses, it was a strange system that still intrigues me to this day. Abyss had put six plates over the white, wooden table, with a precooked meal that I didn't dislike at all, but it wasn't the best flavor in the world either, a mix of meat and seeds, quite enough if you ask me. "Thanks, Byss." I said, then we all sat down at the table and started to eat.

"Don't call me that way, I've told you so like one million times." Abyss looked at me menacingly and just kept eating.

I was distracted by my hunger, but I didn't forget our newest friend, she had sat down in front of me, her meal was untouched, the fork and the knife were still aligned as Abyss had placed them, she was still very worried and confused. "Eat." I advised. "We get only two of these per day."

"I don't want to eat." Philis crossed her arms. "I want to see my parents."

Author's note: Hi! Thank you very much for reading, I really appreciate it. The events of this story are immediately connected to the ones on the latest chapter of "Sonic Legacy: Downfall", but it also works well as a standalone. I hope you liked the first chapter. Have a nice week and God bless you.


	2. Chapter 2

Silver The Hedgehog: Rise Of The Gaolers

Chapter 2: Support

After we finished eating, I headed to my room to get some rest then I noticed that Philis had been following me.

"You need something?" I turned and looked at her, I didn't intend to sound rude, I just wanted to help her.

"Uhm…" Philis rubbed her hands a lot, her sadness was turning into anxiety. "I…I don't know where is my room."

"Oh." I chuckled a bit. "Just pick the one you like most, there are literally dozens to choose, maybe more."

Philis looked at her surroundings, studying briefly the round doors that took to the different quarters. "I don't know." She sighed. "Does it matter if I choose one near you? I don't want to get lost and I would prefer to feel, you know, not alone."

I didn't have any problem with that, she was still scared and unsettled, I understood her petition completely. "Sure, if you need something, just knock, okay?"

Philis grinned for the first time since we met. "Thank you." Before walking away, she turned to say a last thing. "Who were those men?"

"Sorry?" At first, I didn't get her, but then she clarified.

"The ones in the helicopter." Philis lowered her head, frightened by her memories. "They had this, weapons, I couldn't defend myself with my powers, I just stood there, paralyzed, then everything went black, and then I was here."

"Those men were scientists, of UpWorx Industries." I answered. "They take people like us and bring them here, The Marble."

Philis was deeply confused. "But…for what?"

"We think they want to study us, actually, I suspect they're always watching." I found it hard to soften that statement.

The light on Philis' face disappeared again. "This is horrible." Her voice changed, having started to break.

I thought for a moment, then I just spoke with the truth. "Yes, it is." I put a hand on her shoulder, really wanting to get her on a better mood. "But I'm here, okay? We are all here for you, Philis."

Philis lowered her gaze and remained reflective, then she hugged me. "I don't like this." She began to sob. "I don't like it at all."

I hugged her too, I thought that was what she needed, she had lost everything, it was obvious that she loved her parents and that they loved her too, that spark needed to stay alive, to keep her away from devastation. "I'm here, Philis, don't worry." I reassured. "We are a family, and we won't abandon you, it's a promise."

Philis broke the hug and looked at me one last time, she cleaned a tear off her face and made up a thankful smirk then turned around and headed to the room that was at the left, just next to mine, she opened the door and looked at the room's inside, she got in the room shyly and finally closed the door. I stood there for a pair of minutes, figuring out what she was going through, not a hard task, as I had experienced the same. I entered my room and sat down at the edge of the bed, I started to remember the past, as always, all I could see was her, my best friend, Blaze the cat, the Queen of the Kingdom of Sol, the one I didn't have the chance to love, maybe because of my fear, a fear to ruin our friendship that then turned into the fear of losing her, she offered me to live in her castle to hide from UpWorx, but I didn't want them to get her too, as she also has powers, so I just said no, and the love that could've been, died before existing, I missed her so much, her laugh got dimmer every day inside my thoughts, but I never forgot her sweet smile, her caring eyes and the bright purple of her fur, a lump formed in my throat, I tried to be strong but the past won, I started to cry with deep sorrow, thinking about the 'what-ifs' and the chances I had to tell her the love I felt for her, I was a coward and now she only existed on memories. "If only you were here."

In the afternoon of that same day, I decided to give the new one an appropriate welcome, not a party or something like that. I knocked the doors of everyone's rooms and told them to reunite at the lounge, which was a tall, round room that was decorated with blue squares, randomly painted on the white walls, the carpet was also blue, same as the puffs that were arranged in circle. There we had books and table games, things that all of us, even Abyss, appreciated. If it wasn't for those, I think boredom would have killed us all in no time.

Once we all sat down, I started to give instructions, as my friends' intrigue was growing. "Alright, I called you here because I think that our new friend, Philis, needs to know us a little bit more, as we need to know her too."

"Oh, come on!" Abyss complained. "You interrupted my sleep for this?"

Tikal sighed and looked at him with authority. "Byss, he is right, I mean, maybe that way she will feel more confident here."

"Okay, I'll start." Ray said, clearly wanting to end the matter as fast as possible. "My name is Ray, as you already know, I'm a squirrel, if you didn't notice, I have advanced flight capabilities and I like extreme sports, and I don't like history lessons."

"Is that all you got?" Tikal raised an eyebrow.

"No, I think he did well." In my opinion. "Now is m…"

"Advanced flight?" Philis got unexpectedly curious.

"Well, yes, I mean, I can fly great distances, like, continent to continent ones, without breaking a sweat. One occasion I flew from Holoska to Spagonia without scales, just to bring news to the ambassador." Ray said.

"Cool." Philis grinned.

"I'm Mighty." He always tried to compete with Ray. "I'm an armadillo, and I have super strength, I can destroy rock, granite and diamond without hassles, like if they were mere crystal. My shell has went through heavy tests, from robot steps to industrial, hydraulic presses." He winked at her. "What ya think?"

"Oh, that's great." Philis opined, I'm not sure who of the two impressed her more.

"And…I like, uhm, rain and I don't like, well, many things." Mighty added.

Abyss sighed, glancing at the carpet. "I'm Abyss, they call me Byss sometimes but I hate that, don't do that or I'll hate you too, I am a fox, obviously, and I have the power of despair."

"I don't understand." Philis tilted her head a bit, just as everyone else did.

"Well, I can make you feel so lost and anguished, that you would rather choose to be dead, the pain I can make you feel inside is greater than any torture you may know of." Abyss explained. "I don't like people in general"

Philis was more confused than frightened, but he certainly scared her a bit with his exaggerated words. "Okay." She backed away a little bit. "Good or...I don't know."

"Alright then." Tikal took the word. "My name is Tikal, I'm an echidna and I have the power to control air." She briefly explained. "What I like the most, is the beauty of the sea before my sight a…"

Mighty and Ray did a noise of mockery and looked at her with their eyebrows raised. "So deep, Tikal." Ray said.

"Guys…" I scolded them both.

Tikal sighed. "And, what I don't like are the people who interrupt." She looked at them with upset eyes.

Philis chuckled a bit after the brief discussion, I was glad to see her smile again. "I guess is like this every day."

"You have no idea." Tikal confirmed.

"Come on, we are not that annoying." Ray wasn't too good at making arguments.

Philis glared at me, waiting for my word, I just followed the established steps. "Well, I am Silver, hedgehog." My powers were easy to illustrate. "I can move things, with my hands, basically." I thought about the other stuff for a second. "I like fire." I just made that up, maybe. "It gives me hope, warmth." I nodded at my own comment. "Yeah, I like fire." The remaining thing I had to say was more trivial. "I'm not a fan of machines, I just don't understand them." Maybe it was because of so many years fighting Robotnik and his robots, but I'm not sure.

When I finished speaking, we looked at her, it was her turn to speak. Of course she noticed so, we let her prepare her words with the time she needed. "I…" She glanced at the carpet constantly. "I am Philis, I'm a fox and I have the ability to create and control rock." She looked at us, like expecting some kind of opinion, I grinned at her and nodded, the others did the same, except for Abyss, he never smiled. "Okay…and what I like the most is spending time with my parents." She was struggling to complete her answer, as I intuited she wasn't done yet. "My mom tells the best of jokes and my dad, his laughter is always..." Her voice began to break again. "…And I'll never see them again." The cry came inevitably, she covered her face with both hands and her sadness just grew at each second. I waited a bit, as the rest, as I knew she needed to take that out. Her sobs were devastating, heartbreaking and couldn't be ignored by any of us, specially, and unexpectedly, by Abyss.

"Look." Abyss said, getting her attention, her tearful eyes locked at his. "It could be worse." At first, I thought he was going to worsen things up. "You could be alone, completely alone, in this huge house." I had never known the compassionate side of Abyss until that day. "But you are not."

Philis kept sobbing, but Abyss' words calmed her down a bit, she still glanced at him, but this time it wasn't a glance of fear, it was a glance of thankfulness. The cry vanished, but sadness remained on her, she stood up and looked at us with a modest grin. "Thanks." She turned and walked away.


End file.
